USAF mobility forces for the past four months have bettered their own records for cargo airdropped, while the overall pace for cargo and passengers delivered and aerial tanker fuel offloaded has soared from spring throughout the summer to meet increasing needs of operations in Afghanistan. In June, USAF airdropped a record 3.2 million pounds, followed by 3.3 million in July, 3.8 million in August, and 4.1 million last month. Army Chief Warrant Officer 3 James Wright in Afghanistan from the 101st Airborne commended USAF for “doing a great job” in providing “needed support to soldiers in the field.” Other numbers: Cargo and passenger airlift jumped about 75 percent from February to March and has continued at an elevated pace, with an average of about 23,000 pounds and 34,000 passengers a month; aerial refuelers had offloaded 60 million pounds in February compared to 80 million pounds in September. (AMC report by TSgt. Scott Sturkol)
General Atomics, the maker of one of the Air Force’s first Collaborative Combat Aircraft, has ambitious plans for its family of semi-autonomous drones beyond the FQ-42, including a flying-wing aircraft capable of carrying out both reconnaissance and strike missions. Meanwhile, the Air Force Research Laboratory announced a new program to…